This question came to me when I saw a commercial for toddlers and tiaras...

I thought about beauty queens, and what their primal motivation was for getting up there and showing their bodies and talents off for everyone to judge and hopefully approve of. To me, it seems like a very shallow sort of thing, that girls would have the dream of being a beauty queen. I can't hold it against a kid for having an immature dream, but when a girl dedicates her youth to reach this weird ideal, I wonder how they can do it with a clean conscience...

Anyway, I may be way off the mark, but the point is, I don't get it. Not one bit. The Japanese equivalent of this is obviously the pop idol, or any model with a huge following. In anime, idol characters are almost always portrayed sympathetically. They make entire shows out of groups of them (forgive me for not having seen Idolmaster yet), and yet after having seen one (Love Live!) I still can't get what's going through their heads, nor of those that build followings around them.

What does it all mean, and what do their characters represent? And how can I relate to them? Is it the idea of chasing after lost childhood dreams? Is it simply the idea of being accepted by people that have no social obligation to accept you? Blah blah blah, you get what I mean. Discuss, pls

P. S. My favorite idol character is Kanon from The World God Only Knows. I almost understood her, and I had some feels for her by the end of her arc.

I don't think "idols" are the equivalent of "beauty queens". Idols sing, dance and sometimes do some acting in dramas. Beauty Queens do humanitarian works (supposedly) and get modelling contracts.
I don't think girls who dream of becoming a beauty queen do it because they want to be recognised as beautiful, I think they do it for the easy money... and for the million dollar modelling contract afterwards.

As for idol characters I can empathise with, I think that main girl character from Skip Beat!... (I can't remember characters names for the life of me)
I'm starting to watch Uta no prince sama right now, and I think it has a good message regarding idols and whatnot, some people do go into these career paths because they truly have a passion for singing. But it's just that the record labels don't always have artistry and creativity as their first priority.

Skip Beat ...Mogami Kyoko , lead character . Been reading the manga after the anime...love the story and characters.

BUt anyway , the idol scene is going overboard not just in Japan but in some Asian countires as well. And most of them are always in a group and of course it is reflected in the manga and then anime or movie we see.

YEs the talent agency main goal is to make as much dinero as they can from the talent. Although there is an attempt in the world of anime and manga to show that its not all about the money which is pretty much bullsh** .

I don't emphatize with these idols per se becuase I dont care about artist who sacrifice their craft and not creat something just for the sake of creating art that sincerely makes them happy and satisfied.

Being an idol in most cases is also a competetion and is short live and all these young people work so hard and put alot of effort in it but what will they do if they get cut and or graduate or their group disbands... ...

I don't think girls who dream of becoming a beauty queen do it because they want to be recognised as beautiful, I think they do it for the easy money... and for the million dollar modelling contract afterwards.

No, I'm talking about girls who have the dream of becoming a beauty queen before they're even old enough to care about money, like the dream of becoming a princess or something after seeing a Disney movie. If they did do it for the money, then that really would be shallow, and no sympathy would be had and I wouldn't have any questions lol, but there seems to be another reason driving most of the characters I've seen.